House of Memories 《Hetalia》

６

Shortly after the conversation about Vinland, Alfred began to stir. He couldn't fully understand what was happening around him but he knew people were talking. Mattie, who was right next to Alfred's head, was talking to someone near him. He could hear him talking about something to someone and yet his mildly ill brain couldn't differentiate the voices around him. So, with all his strength, that was building up once more, he sat up and opened his eyes.

The group that had just left to see the memory had returned and milled about conversing about who knows what. "I thought you guys left."

"We finished the memory and we decided to wait for you to wake up before we do the next," Matthew said and handed Alfred a bottle of water. "Feeling better?"

"Much, thank you," He chugged the half empty bottle.

"Do you know why the memory with the--what did you call it?--the wendigo was blocked?" Arthur asked, the conversation he was apart of with Francis and Lukas forgotten, the other two paying attention to the blue-eyed blond as well.

"Maybe because of my necklace? I don't know," Alfred said. "I just know is that before today, I had no idea that memory existed but now it does and I don't like it. Also, what did you guys see in the memory what you left?"

"We saw Vinland," Lukas answered. "It was the first time you meet her, in the forest."

"Oh! I wanted to ask-a you," Feliciano said bouncing up from his place around the room. "I know I asked Matthew but-a I wanted to ask you to-a, but can I paint the forest scene? The one we just saw?"

"Sure man! I would love that," Alfred beamed, his bright smile lighting up the room. "If there's any moment in my life you deem worthy to paint, go ahead! I've wanted to have some of my favorite moments in time on canvas but I don't have the skills like you do, feli, so you have my full consent."

"Yay!" Feliciano hugged Alfred tightly, his arms around his chest and neck from behind him, before he let go to further continue his self-conversation of the medium to use for the future projects.

"Anyway, we should continue with the memories, I don't know how much time we have left in here." With shaky legs, Alfred managed to stand up and walk to the corridor that held his childhood. The oak doors around him stayed shut and locked, even the ones they had visited before. Gold doorknobs tightly jammed into place to keep prying eyes from seeing more than they should.

A little further down the hall, past door 1-8, was the next memory. Just like the others, the numbers were engraved into the dark wood and filled in with gold. 1-12 it said and opened automatically when they reached it, but scared and hesitant, just like the people around him, Alfred stepped through.

They had expected a scene like the ones before. The tall and full trees in a forest, foliage the covered the ground for miles. But what they saw was almost completely different. A beautiful shade of light blue still coated the sky for miles and miles and tiny, miniscule patched of white clouds popped up rarely in the vastness that was the sea of blue. Heat beat down on the ground around them brutally creating tricks on the mind when they peered through the heat waves. Fake puddles of water could been seen in the distance, but those who know heat, know they are just an illusion.

"Where are we?" Yao asked very confused. "It's nothing but desolate plains for miles."

"Don't talk about my land like that," Alfred said. "And for you information, we are in Texas. Most southern broader, near the Rio Grande river to be exact."

Many of the countries looked around almost unimpressed. From what they heard about the second largest state, it was nothing like they thought. But then again, they were looking at the land in the past so it was vastly different. "But why are we here, though?"